Semiconductor integrated circuit device

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor integrated circuit device includes a plurality of internal memories, a main processor, which constitutes a first processing unit having a codec function, and a video interface and graphics processor, which constitute a second processing unit for video display processing. The semiconductor integrated circuit device operates while being connected to a CPU, which is an external processing unit, and an external memory. The semiconductor integrated circuit device is provided with a memory configuration controller for controlling the memory allocation to the first, the second, and the external processing unit in accordance with an application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to semiconductor integrated circuitdevices that include a plurality of internal memories and a plurality ofprocessing units for data processing, and that operate while beingconnected to an external processing unit.

JP H10-27131A discloses a shared memory device performing conflictcontrol for DMA transfer requests from a plurality of communicationcontrollers, wherein even while one memory bank is being used, access toother memory banks is possible, and thus the frequency that thecommunications controllers are caused to wait by shared memory access isreduced.

JP H10-260952A discloses a technology for flexibly connecting theprocessors and the memory banks in a multiprocessor system LSI with anintegrated multibank memory.

JP 2000-99391A discloses a printer device, in which memory banks can beaccessed simultaneously by mediating access to the memory banks of amemory individually for each memory bank.

JP 2001-43180A discloses a microprocessor in which a plurality ofresources share a single memory, and no-wait access is possible inparallel.

There is thus a need for memory allocation to various processing unitsin semiconductor integrated circuit devices that include a plurality ofinternal memories and a plurality of processing units for dataprocessing, and that operate while being connected to an externalprocessing unit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an appropriatememory allocation in accordance with an application.

In order to attain this object, a semiconductor integrated circuit inaccordance with the present invention, which operates while beingconnected to an external processing unit, includes a plurality ofinternal memories, a first processing unit for data processing and asecond processing unit for data processing, and a memory configurationcontroller for controlling the assignment of the plurality of internalmemories to the first processing unit, the second processing unit andthe external processing unit in accordance with an application.

With the present invention, an appropriate memory allocation inaccordance with an application can be realized. For example, theplurality of internal memories can be allocated to the first processingunit, the second processing unit and the external processing unitrespectively, or the plurality of internal memories all can be occupiedexclusively by the first or the second processing unit. Furthermore, itis also possible that the plurality of internal memories are alloccupied by the external processing unit. In this last example, thesemiconductor integrated circuit device operates merely as a memorydevice for the external processing unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the internalconfiguration of a semiconductor integrated circuit device according tothe present invention, as well as its external connections.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a more detailed configuration exampleof the memory configuration controller in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the memory allocation for each operationmode, in accordance with the application of the semiconductor integratedcircuit in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4A shows an example of a first register for specifying the intendeduse of the memories in the semiconductor integrated circuit device inFIG. 1, and FIG. 4B illustrates the meaning of the least significant twobits in that register.

FIG. 5A shows an example of a second register for specifying the storagecapacity of the memories in the semiconductor integrated circuit devicein FIG. 1, FIG. 5B illustrates the meaning of the least significant bitin that register, and FIG. 5C illustrates the meaning of the mostsignificant two bits in that register.

FIG. 6A shows an example of specifying absolute addresses for the memoryassigned to the external CPU in the semiconductor integrated circuitdevice of FIG. 1, and FIG. 6B shows an example of specifying relativeaddresses for the memory assigned to the external CPU.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of aportable communication terminal using the semiconductor integratedcircuit device in FIG. 1 as an image processor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following is a detailed description of embodiments of the presentinvention, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the internal configuration of a semiconductorintegrated circuit device according to the present invention, as well asits external connections. The semiconductor integrated circuit device 10in FIG. 1, which is for image processing, operates while being connectedto a CPU 11, which is an external processing unit, a camera 12 for imageinput, a liquid crystal display (LCD) 13 for image display, and anexternal memory 14 made of an SDRAM. The maximum storage capacity of theexternal memory 14 is for example 256 Mbit (megabit).

The semiconductor integrated circuit device 10 includes a plurality ofinternal memories 20 to 23 made of SRAMs 0 to 3, a main processor (MP)24, a video interface (VIF) 25, a graphics processor (GFX) 26, a hostinterface (HIF) 27, and an asynchronous serial interface (UART) 28. Themain processor 24 is a first processing unit for image data processingand has a codec (encode/decode) function in accordance with MPEG-4. Thevideo interface 25 and the graphics processor 26 constitute a secondprocessing unit for image data processing, controlling the video displayprocessing. The storage capacity of the internal memories 20 to 23 is,for example, 2 Mbit or 4 Mbit each. The video interface 25 is connectedto the camera 12 and the liquid crystal display 13, whereas the hostinterface 27 and the asynchronous serial interface 28 are connected tothe CPU 11.

The semiconductor integrated circuit device 10 of FIG. 1 is furtherprovided with a memory controller 30 including a memory configurationcontroller 31. The memory configuration controller 31 controls theallocation of memory for the main processor 24, the video interface 25,the graphics processor 26, and the CPU 11, in accordance with theapplication. Of the internal memories 20 to 23 and the external memory14, a memory is assigned to the main processor 24, and used by it as awork region. Of the internal memories 20 to 23 and the external memory14, a memory is assigned to the video interface 25 and the graphicsprocessor 26, and used by them as a frame region, which is commonlycalled “frame memory.” Of the internal memories 20 to 23 and theexternal memory 14, a memory is assigned to the CPU 11, and used by itas a CPU region.

The memory controller 30 further includes a work region memory interface(WMIF) 32 serving as a first memory interface, a frame region memoryinterface (FMIF) 33 serving as a second memory interface, and a CPUregion memory interface (CPUIF) 34 serving as a third memory interface.In correspondence thereto, the semiconductor integrated circuit device10 in FIG. 1 is provided with a WM bus (first data bus) 40, an FM bus(second data bus) 41, and a CPU bus (third data bus) 42 dedicated to theCPU 11. The WMIF 32 is interposed between the work region assigned tothe main processor 24 and the WM bus 40, and mediates and controls DMAdata transfer requests. The FMIF 33 is interposed between the frameregion assigned to the video interface 25 and the graphics processor 26on the one hand and the FM bus 41 on the other hand, and mediates andcontrols DMA data transfer requests. The CPUIF 34 is interposed betweenthe CPU region and the CPU bus 42, and is an interface controlling datatransfer. Thus, the memory assigned to the work region can be accessedvia the WMIF 32, the memory assigned to the frame region can be accessedvia the FMIF 33, and the memory assigned to the CPU region can beaccessed via the CPUIF 34. It should be noted that a host bus 43 isprovided between the graphics processor 26 and the host interface 27.Furthermore, the main processor 24 includes a local bus 44 that isconnected to the host interface 27.

The main processor 24 can be connected via an MP bus selector 50 toeither the WM bus 40 or the FM bus 41, and is provided over a local bus44 with a plurality of local memories (DM 1, DM 2 and DM 3) 51 to 53 anda plurality of hardware engines (ENG) 54. The hardware engines 54 arepartial processing cores for encoding/encoding MPEG image data. Thevideo interface 25 can be connected via a VIF bus selector 55 to eitherthe WM bus 40 or the FM bus 41. The graphics processor 26 can beconnected only to the FM bus 41 and not to the WM bus 40. The hostinterface 27 can be connected via an HF bus selector 60 to either the WMbus 40 or the FM bus 41. Furthermore, the host interface 27 can beconnected via the CPU bus 42 and the CPU IF bus selector 61 to eitherthe CPU IF 34 or the FM bus 41. The asynchronous serial interface 28 canbe connected via the UART bus selector 62 to either the WM bus 40 or theFM bus 41.

The main processor 24 can instruct a DMA data transfer between the localmemories 51 to 53 and the work region via the MP bus selector 50, the WMbus 40 and the WMIF 32, and it can instruct a DMA data transfer betweenthe local memories 51 to 53 and the frame region via the MP bus selector50, the FM bus 41 and the FMIF 33. Furthermore, the main processor 24can instruct a DMA data transfer between the a host memory within thehost interface 27 and the work region via the HIF bus selector 60, theWM bus 40 and the WMIF 32, and it can instruct a DMA data transferbetween the a host memory within the host interface 27 and the frameregion via the HIF bus selector 60, the FM bus 41 and the FMIF 33.Furthermore, the main processor 24 can instruct a DMA data transferbetween the a FIFO memory within the asynchronous serial interface 28and the work region via the UART bus selector 62, the WM bus 40 and theWMIF 32, and it can instruct a DMA data transfer between the a FIFOmemory within the asynchronous serial interface 28 and the frame regionvia the UART bus selector 62, the FM bus 41 and the FMIF 33. The DMAdata transfer between the local memories 51 to 53 and the work regionand the DMA data transfer with the host memory within the host interface27 or the FIFO memory within the asynchronous serial interface 28 can becarried out in parallel. Furthermore, the DMA data transfer between thelocal memories 51 to 53 and the frame region and the DMA data transferwith the host memory within the host interface 27 or the FIFO memorywithin the asynchronous serial interface 28 also can be carried out inparallel.

Moreover, the main processor 24 can instruct a DMA data transfer betweenan internal memory of the video interface 25 and the work region via theVIF bus selector 55, the WM bus 40 and the WMIF 32, and it can instructa DMA data transfer between the internal memory of the video interface25 and the frame region via the VIF bus selector 55, the FM bus 41 andthe FMIF 33. Furthermore, the main processor 24 can instruct a DMA datatransfer between the internal memory of the graphics processor 26 andthe frame region via the FM bus 41 and the FMIF 33. The DMA datatransfer between the local memories 51 to 53 of the main processor 24and the work region and the DMA data transfer between the internalmemories of the video interface 25 and the graphics processor 26 and theframe region can be carried out in parallel. Furthermore, the DMA datatransfer between the local memories 51 to 53 of the main processor 24and the frame region and the DMA data transfer between the internalmemories of the video interface 25 and the graphics processor 26 and thework region also can be carried out in parallel. It is also possible toproceed with the data processing using the local memories 51 to 53,while the main processor 24 carries out a DMA data transfer for thevideo interface 25 for example.

The CPU 11 is provided with three memory access routes for paralleldata. First, there is access via the host interface 27, with whichwriting from the CPU 11 into the host memory provided within the hostinterface 27 is performed. In response to this, the main processor 24instructs a DMA data transfer between the host memory and the workregion or the frame region. Thus, the CPU 11 can achieve the writing ofgraphics data into a portion of the frame region, for example. Second,there is a route for the case that the CPU 11 accesses the CPU regionwithout passing through the host memory, and this route passes from theCPU 11 through the host interface 27, the CPU bus 42, the CPUIF busselector 61, and the CPUIF 34 to the CPU region. Third, there is a routefor the case that the CPU 11 accesses the frame region without passingthrough the host memory, and this route passes from the CPU 11 throughthe host interface 27, the CPU bus 42, the CPUIF bus selector 61, the FMbus 41 and the FMIF 33 to the frame region. If the second route isselected, relative memory addresses are specified by the CPU 11. And ifDMA data transfer with the first or the third route is selected, thenabsolute memory addresses are specified by the CPU 11, and mediationwith other DMA data transfer requests (for example of the videointerface 25 or the graphics processor 26) is performed. It should benoted that the DMA priority rank of the CPU 11 should be set one lowerthan that of the graphics processor 26.

FIG. 2 shows a more detailed configuration example of the memoryconfiguration controller 31 in FIG. 1. The memory configurationcontroller 31 has a setting portion 70, and this setting portion 70includes a first register 71 for specifying the intended use of thememories, and a second register 72 for specifying the storage capacityof the memories. In accordance with these registers 71 and 72, aread/write controller 73 directs access signals from the WMIF 32, theFMIF 33 and the CPUIF 34 to the individual memories. It should be notedthe first and the second registers 71 and 72 can be set as desired bythe main processor 24 and the CPU 11.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the memory allocation for each operationmode, in accordance with the application of the semiconductor integratedcircuit device 10 in FIG. 1. Here, each of the four internal memories 20to 23 is assumed to have a storage capacity of 2 Mbit. This means thatthe total storage capacity of the internal memories 20 to 23 is 8 Mbit.The memory configuration controller 31 plays the important roll ofeffectively putting to use the these limited memory resources. Forexample, in an operating mode A, all of the internal memories 20 to 23are occupied by the main processor 24. In the operating mode B, 6 Mbitof the total capacity of the internal memories 20 to 23 are allocated tothe main processor 24, and 2 Mbit are allocated to the video interface25 and the graphics processor 26. In the operating mode C, 4 Mbit of thetotal capacity of the internal memories 20 to 23 are allocated to themain processor 24, and 4 Mbit are allocated to the video interface 25and the graphics processor 26. In the operating mode D, 4 Mbit of thetotal capacity of the internal memories 20 to 23 is allocated to themain processor 24, 2 Mbit are allocated to the video interface 25 andthe graphics processor 26, and 2 Mbit are allocated to the CPU 11. Inthe operating mode E, 4 Mbit of the total capacity of the internalmemories 20 to 23 are allocated to the video interface 25 and thegraphics processor 26, and 4 Mbit are allocated to the CPU 11. In theoperating mode F, all of the internal memories 20 to 23 are occupied bythe video interface 25 and the graphics processor 26. In the operatingmode G, all of the internal memories 20 to 23 are occupied by the CPU11. In this last operating mode G, the former functions of the mainprocessor 24, the video interface 25 and the graphics processor 26 arestopped, and the semiconductor integrated circuit device 10 operatesmerely as a memory device for the CPU 11. In this manner, memoryallocation that is appropriate for the application can be realized bythe memory configuration controller 31. It should be noted, that MPEG-4processing with the main processor 24, video display processing with thevideo interface 25 and the graphics processor 26, and processing withthe CPU 11 can be carried out in parallel.

FIG. 4A shows an example of a first register 71 with a 10-bitconfiguration, and FIG. 4B illustrates the meaning of the leastsignificant two bits in that register. If the bits 1 and 0 of the firstregister 71 allocated to the SRAM 0, which is one of the internalmemories 20 to 23, are “00,” then the SRAM 0 is used as a work region,if they are “01,” then the SRAM 0 is used as a frame region, if they are“10,” then the SRAM 0 is used as a CPU region. If the SRAM 0 is notused, for example because it is defective, then the bits 1 and 0 of thefirst register 71 should be set to “11.” In this case, the supply ofpower to the SRAM 0 is stopped, and it can be ensured that no addressesare allocated to that SRAM 0. Similarly, the bits 3 and 2 of the firstregister 71 specify the intended use of the SRAM 1, the bits 5 and 4specify the intended use of the SRAM 2, the bits 7 and 6 specify theintended use of the SRAM 3, the bits 9 and 8 specify the intended use ofthe external memory 14 made of the SDRAM. If the content of the firstregister 71 is changed as appropriate, it is possible to achieve datatransfer between the WM bus 40, the FM bus 41 and the CPU bus 42. Forexample, if the bits 3 and 2 of the first register 71 are changed from“00 (work region)” to “01 (frame region),” the data written via the WMbus 40 into the SRAM 1, which is one of the internal memories 20 to 23,can be read out into the FM bus 41.

For memories for which there is no DMA reservation, the first register71 can make changes while in operation, but for memories for which thereis an DMA reservation and that are being accessed or for which there isthe possibility of access, it should be ensured that the content of thefirst register 71 cannot be changed. Changes to the first register 71are basically performed under the responsibility of software run on themain processor 24.

FIG. 5A shows an example of a second register 72 with a 6-bitconfiguration for specifying the storage capacity of the memories, FIG.5B shows an example of the meaning of the least significant bit in thatregister 72, and FIG. 5C shows an example of the meaning of the mostsignificant two bits in that register 72. If the bit 0 of the secondregister 72 assigned to the SRAM 0, which is one of the internalmemories 20 to 23, is “0,” then the SRAM 0 has a storage capacity of 2Mbit, and if it is “1,” then the SRAM 0 has a storage capacity of 4Mbit. Similarly bit 1 of the second register 72 specifies the storagecapacity of the SRAM 1, bit 2 specifies that of the SRAM 2, and bit 3specifies that of the SRAM 3. Furthermore, if the bits 5 and 4 of thesecond register 72, which are assigned to the external memory 14 made ofan SDRAM, are “01,” then that SDRAM has a storage capacity of 64 Mbit,if they are “10,” then that SDRAM has a storage capacity of 128 Mbit,and if they are “11,” then that SDRAM has a storage capacity of 256Mbit. If the external memory 14 for some reason is not used, then thebits 5 and 4 of the second register 72 should be set to “00.” It shouldbe noted that the content of the second register 72 should be determinedwhen starting up the semiconductor integrated circuit device 10.

FIG. 6A shows an example of specifying absolute addresses for the memoryassigned to the CPU 11 in the semiconductor integrated circuit device 10in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6B shows an example of specifying relative addressesfor the memory assigned to the CPU 11. Here, the storage capacities ofthe internal memories 20 to 23 are 2 Mbit each, and the storage capacityof the external memory 14 is 128 Mbit. It is assumed that the SRAM 0 andthe SRAM 1 of the internal memories 20 to 23 are specified as the workregion, the SRAM 2 and the SRAM 3 of the internal memories 20 to 23 arespecified as the CPU region, and the external memory 14 is specified asthe frame region. In FIGS. 6A and 6B, seen from the main processor 24,addresses are assigned to the memories as one continuous address space,regardless of work region, frame region and CPU region. On the otherhand, for the address map of the CPU region that can be seen from theCPU 11, it is possible to select either the absolute addresses in FIG.6A or the relative addresses in FIG. 6B. If relative addresses as inFIG. 6B are specified, the CPU region is always mapped starting at theaddress 0, so that the load on the CPU 11 is reduced.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the configuration of a portable communicationterminal (such as a mobile phone) using the semiconductor integratedcircuit device 10 in FIG. 1 as an image processor. In addition to thatimage processor 10, the above-mentioned CPU 11, the camera 12, theliquid crystal display 13 and the SDRAM 14, the portable communicationterminal in FIG. 7 includes a baseband portion 81, an audio processor83, and a memory 88. The image processor 10, the CPU 11, the basebandportion 81, the audio processor 83 and the memory 88 are connected toone another via a main bus 80. Furthermore, that the asynchronous serialinterface 28 in the image processor 10 allows serial communicationbetween the image processor 10 and the CPU 11 is as described above (seeFIG. 1).

The baseband portion 81 sends and receives multiplexed streams via anantenna 82. A speaker 85 is connected via a digital/analog converter(DAC) 84 to the audio processor 83, and a microphone 86 is connected viaan analog/digital converter (ADC) 87 to the audio processor 83. If, forexample, the baseband portion 81 receives a multiplexed stream, then theCPU 11 divides that multiplexed stream into an audio stream and an imagestream, and the audio stream is supplied via the main bus 80 to theaudio processor 83, whereas the image stream is supplied by serialcommunication to the image processor 10. Then, the audio processor 83decodes the audio stream, and audio is output from the speaker 85. Onthe other hand, the image processor 10 decodes the image stream, andoutputs the decoded image data on the liquid crystal display 13, whilestoring them in the work region.

The portable communication terminal in FIG. 7 further includes an IO bus90, to which a plurality of interfaces 91 are connected. One of theseinterfaces 91 is connected to a keypad 92. When the CPU 11 receives aninput from the keypad 92, it directly writes graphics data correspondingto the input via the CPUIF 34 in the image processor 10 into the CPUregion. In accordance with instructions from the CPU 11 or the mainprocessor 24, the image processor 10 changes the memory configuration bychanging the CPU region into a frame region and the frame region into aCPU region, synthesizes the graphics data in the frame region and theimage data in the work region, and outputs the result on the liquidcrystal display 13.

With the image processor 10, images that are input with the camera 12can be subjected to MPEG encoding, and the result of that process can beoutput via the asynchronous serial interface 28 to the CPU 11.Alternatively, when the CPU 11 subjects the images captured by thecamera 12 and stored in the work region to JPEG encoding, the memoryconfiguration is changed by changing the work region to a CPU region inaccordance with instructions from the CPU 11 or the main processor 24,and still picture data are directly read out by the CPU 11 from the CPUregion.

In this manner, the semiconductor integrated circuit device 10 of FIG. 1is favorably utilized for image processing by portable communicationterminals.

The invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from thespirit or essential characteristics thereof. The embodiments disclosedin this application are to be considered in all respects as illustrativeand not limiting. The scope of the invention is indicated by theappended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are intended to be embraced therein.

1. (canceled)
 2. A semiconductor integrated circuit device that operateswhile being connected to an external processing unit, comprising: aplurality of internal memories; a first processing unit for dataprocessing and a second processing unit for data processing; a firstdata bus connected to the first processing unit; a second data busconnected to the second processing unit; a third data bus dedicated tothe external processing unit; a first memory interface, mediating andcontrolling DMA data transfer requests from the first and secondprocessing units, which is interposed between the memory assigned to thefirst processing unit and the first data bus; a second memory interface,mediating and controlling DMA data transfer requests from the first andsecond processing units, which is interposed between the memory assignedto the second processing unit and the second data bus; a third memoryinterface, controlling a data transfer, which is interposed between thememory assigned to the external processing unit and the third data bus;and a memory configuration controller for controlling the assignment ofthe plurality of internal memories to the first processing unit, thesecond processing unit and the external processing unit in accordancewith an application.
 3. The semiconductor integrated circuit deviceaccording to claim 2, wherein the memory configuration controllerfurther has the function to control the assignment of external memory tothe first processing unit, the second processing unit and the externalprocessing unit, in accordance with an application.
 4. The semiconductorintegrated circuit device according to claim 3, wherein the memoryconfiguration controller comprises a first register for specifying theassignment of the plurality of internal memories and the externalmemory; and wherein data transfer between the first to third data busesis accomplished by rewriting the content of the first register.
 5. Thesemiconductor integrated circuit device according to claim 4, whereinthe first register is configured such that it can specify which of theplurality of internal memories and the external memory is unused.
 6. Thesemiconductor integrated circuit device according to claim 3, whereinthe memory configuration controller comprises a second register forspecifying the respective storage capacities of the plurality ofinternal memories and the external memory.
 7. (canceled)
 8. Thesemiconductor integrated circuit device according to claim 2, whereinthe first processing unit comprises a local memory; and wherein DMA datatransport can be carried out between the local memory and the memoryassigned to the first processing unit. 9-11. (canceled)
 12. A portablecommunication terminal, comprising a semiconductor integrated circuitdevice according to claim 2 for image processing.
 13. A portablecommunication terminal, comprising a semiconductor integrated circuitdevice according to claim 3 for image processing.
 14. A portablecommunication terminal, comprising a semiconductor integrated circuitdevice according to claim 4 for image processing.
 15. A portablecommunication terminal, comprising a semiconductor integrated circuitdevice according to claim 5 for image processing.
 16. A portablecommunication terminal, comprising a semiconductor integrated circuitdevice according to claim 6 for image processing.
 17. A portablecommunication terminal, comprising a semiconductor integrated circuitdevice according to claim 8 for image processing.